Stina Burke

Background

Who am I?
I am a PhD candidate in Education, with a research focus on social sustainability within teacher education for grades 1–6.

Background and Experience
With nearly 20 years of experience in both Swedish and international contexts, I have worked with students of all ages, from early primary school to adult education. My roles have included class teacher, subject teacher, and special educator, as well as working with newly arrived students.

Much of my work has centered around speech and language in multilingual contexts, where I have coached staff in developing strategies to meet students’ linguistic needs, particularly in combination with executive difficulties.

I have also led municipality-wide school development projects focused on improving the quality of student documentation and promoting language development approaches in teaching. These projects have provided me with valuable insights into how systematic development efforts can create sustainable and inclusive learning environments for both students and teachers.

Throughout my career, I have prioritized creating accessible and inclusive learning environments where all students receive the support they need to thrive, regardless of linguistic or cultural background.

Degrees and Certifications
2007
Degree of Bachelor of Education, 210 hp-k Degree specialisation: Social Sciences
2019
Postgraduate Diploma in Special Needs Training, 90 hp Degree specialisation: Development of Language, Writing and Reading
2019
Degree of Master of Science (60 credits), 60 hp
Main field of study: Education with Specialization in Special Education
2022
Postgraduate Diploma in Special Educational Needs, 90 hp

Licenses and Teaching Qualifications
• Registred teacher qualified to teach in all educational levels from primary school to adult education (excluding preschool).
• Teaching certifications in Geography, English, and Swedish as a Second Language.
• Expertise in special educational support, particularly in language, reading, and writing development.

Research

My currant Research

My research lies at the intersection of education, learning and psychological well-being. It explores how students in higher education, particularly student teachers, experience barriers to participation and learning in relation to executive and emotional functioning. I am particularly interested in how students describe difficulties with attention, working memory, planning, organisation and task initiation, alongside experiences of stress, anxiety and emotional regulation. My focus is on how these experiences interact with the cognitive, pedagogical and organisational demands of higher education.

Drawing on ethnographic, reflexive and participant-oriented approaches, I examine how students understand their own functioning, how their experiences are interpreted by others, and how these different understandings influence the support and opportunities available to them. The research uses narrative interviews and participant-generated visual materials, including drawings and collages, with opportunities for observation and follow-up conversations.

My analysis attends to individual experiences while also examining the educational and institutional contexts in which they occur. I am interested in how psychological and emotional difficulties are recognised, described and responded to, and how expectations concerning independence, self-regulation and academic performance shape students' experiences of higher education.

The research draws on concepts relating to executive and emotional functioning, alongside special educational, intersectional and norm-critical perspectives.

Through this work, I aim to contribute to a better understanding of how individual experiences of cognitive and emotional functioning relate to the conditions for participation, learning and professional development in higher education.